The Windjammers, a 35-piece band, will be performing War and Remembrance as a tribute to Remembrance Day at Palmerston Christian Reformed Church, 400 Whites Road on Nov. 9 at 7:15pm,.
The event is a benefit concert to raise funds for the GEMS Esther School in Zambia, Africa. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted to support the cause.
The Windjammers have been in existence for many years and have played in venues such as the River Run Center in Guelph and Centre in the Square in Kitchener.
They are primarily a wind ensemble and consist of musicians from various parts of Southwestern Ontario who love to perform.
The Windjammers play under the direction of conductor Harry Currie, who has been described as “unstoppable.” He has an illustrious career in music from teaching at various schools to performing at a Buckingham Palace garden party.
Currie has served as a Colonel in the Armed Forces as a music director which led to his composing War and Remembrance.
The Windjammers like to give back to the community by occasionally performing a free concert and this year chose to benefit the Esther School, a new school for underprivileged children in the area of Chongwe, Zambia.
The Esther School was started several years ago a local chief heard of the work GEMS (Girls Everywhere Meeting the Saviour) was doing with women and girls in Zambia and asked if GEMS would build a school if he provided the land. GEMS agreed and became the owners of 25 acres.
Plans were drawn and work begun on the school, including raising funds to make it possible.
The school currently has junior and senior kindergarten and Grade 1. Each year they build on another classroom as well as other needed facilities and employ local men from the village, providing much needed work for local families.
Meals provided
Children are provided breakfast and lunch, prepared by parent volunteers who, though unable to pay for their children to go to school, volunteer 16 hours a month instead.
The teachers are both Zambians and North Americans who partner in the classroom, enabling them to learn from each other as these two cultures meet.
The goal for the school is to be self-sustaining as the 25 acres are developed for farming, husbandry, raising chickens, vegetables, etc., with plans to go up to Grade 8.
